Chapter 141

The Duke laughed heartily at those words and replied.

“I understand your doubts, but Wini von Helzman is indeed the legitimate son of Count Helzman. It has been quite some time since he received formal recognition.”

I hadn’t expected to see such agitation, but to think they had actually prepared proper documents…

As expected, an old veteran who has managed to hold the Duke’s position for over 70 years is not to be underestimated.

“Is that so? Then please show me that evidence.”

“Just a moment. Inspector Winslot has the documents, so he will show you directly.”

A short while later, an inspector named Winslot entered and handed me a document.

The document read as follows:

“[Serun von Helzman’s legitimate son, Wini von Helzman, is ordered to enter a monastery to walk the path of a clergy. At the moment he enters the monastery, he is ordered to renounce all worldly identities before Deus and to no longer consider himself a nobleman. – Abbot Lintse von Dweil – Year 410 of the Deus calendar, December 5th]”

With the name of the abbot on it, this document serves as an official identification proving that Wini von Helzman is the legitimate son of Count Helzman.

Thus, it is impossible to claim, as I initially asked, that he is an impersonator rather than Count Helzman’s legitimate son.

Realizing this, Duke Architel looked at me with a face that seemed to say, “If you have nothing more to say, let’s talk about something else.”

But this single document could not stop me from concocting a plan to send a clergy member to Maxburg to incite a rebellion.

The Duke, unaware of my feelings, slightly raised the corners of his mouth and asked me.

“Even though the Count Helzman family has lost its territory and fallen into decline… should we not apologize for treating that rascal Wini as a shameless impersonator of a legitimate son, and regarding me as trash for supporting such a rascal?”

I fell silent for a moment to act as if I were taken aback.

“I understand your reaction. It’s true that in the past lords like me have sometimes brought in suitable individuals to impersonate a legitimate son for the purpose of expanding their influence. However, I am not such a shameless individual, Count.”

The Duke was using this situation to demand as much compensation for his honor as possible, attacking me relentlessly to reduce either the compensation or the size of the territories he had to forfeit.

While this situation may seem disadvantageous to me on the surface…

At the point where the Architel family sought to swallow all the territories of the Helzman family, your family has committed an irreversible mistake.

And that mistake is…

“I apologize for doubting Your Grace and Sir Wini. May I ask just one question?”

“Go ahead, ask whatever you want. I have plenty of means to prove that rascal is the son of Helzman.”

I asked with a voice mixed with curiosity.

“There is a clause in the Golden Rule of Europia. It states that any member of a noble family, whether legitimate or illegitimate, who inherits or recovers their territory is considered to have lawfully secured their legitimacy and title as the head of the family.”

The Duke, still not grasping my intention, nodded and replied.

“That’s right, so if we had won this war, that rascal Wini would have become the legitimate Count Helzman, right?”

To that, I retorted with a smirk.

“That cannot be the case. Because that clause states that one must be a member of a noble family to inherit the territory after reclaiming it, does it not? However, Sir Wini, or rather, Wini von Helzman impersonating an illegitimate son of Helzman, renounced all worldly identities the moment he entered the monastery.”

Upon hearing that, the Duke’s expression turned blank as if he had been struck on the back of the head with a baseball bat.

He probably hadn’t anticipated that I would counter with such logic.

I continued to press on without giving the Duke time to think.

“He completely relinquished his identity as the illegitimate son of the Helzman family upon entering the monastery. In that process, he naturally lost all rights to inheritance and justification regarding the Count Helzman’s domain. Do you really think that simply because his flesh carries the blood of Count Helzman, he can claim the right to inherit the territory?”

“Count Siel von Croilet! However, the Helzman family has long been severed from your former lord Count Nante. So, it’s not strange for Wini, who carries the blood of Count Helzman, to claim the title of Count, is it?”

The Duke’s statement is not entirely incorrect.

In this era, even if a bastard renounces his claim to inheritance, there are cases where if the family line is severed, the right of succession is automatically restored.

As soon as I heard that, I openly laughed.

“That’s only in cases where the family line has been severed. And the members of the Helzman family still have uncertain fates. In other words, we cannot clearly say that they have been severed. Yet you would have His Grace Wini von Helzman, who has taken vows as a clergy member, return to secular life to claim succession, right?”

“However, it has already been five years since the Helzman family lost its title! They must all be dead or unreachable by now!”

“That is not important, Your Grace. What is important is that you seduced a clergy member, who has taken a lifelong vow to serve the Lord, under the justification of the Helzman family’s revival, and made him fall from grace. How disgraceful is that? It is unimaginable in my family!”

Even though I said that, in reality, bastards who become clergy typically maintain some superficial disconnection from their family while receiving support from their family, spending their lives in luxury.

This is because they can never live like honest monks, eating only rye bread or porridge every day and praying for ten hours.

Moreover, families often experience a mix of guilt and hope that these bastards might become high-ranking clergy members, so they provide support.

However, the Duke Architel seemed to realize he was in a very bad situation, as his face began to turn pale.

With a tone that suggested I was mourning our illegitimate son’s fall, I continued.

“I even heard that during this expedition, funds were provided to all nobles holding titles from Franche, as well as to His Imperial Majesty… This means that His Majesty assisted in corrupting a clergy member who vowed to dedicate his life to God. Is this not a deeply regrettable situation?”

“That’s nonsense!!!”

“If that’s not the case, then how could the pious monk Wini von Helzman return to the secular world alone and fall from grace? Moreover, Your Grace, what kind of compensation do you intend to offer to our knights who risked their lives in such trickery?”

On a personal note, I feel inclined to express my gratitude to Duke Architel for such a shallow trick, as it might lead to him conceding more compensation and territories.

No, I actually feel like I want to pay my respects to His Grace for claiming justification to bring forth the reinforcements from Franche after losing territory.

And if this is spread well, it might set the stage for political maneuvering to deflect responsibility within Franche…

The repercussions will ultimately fall upon Duke Architel, who faced defeat in this war.

I even began to feel that we should treat any bastards from the Architel family who might flee to our territory kindly in the future.

As I quietly contemplated how to graciously offer justification, money, and territory to Duke Architel, he let out a deep sigh.

“Damn… you were right, I was too far from my own greed… However, neither His Imperial Majesty nor the other nobles had any such intentions.”

“Is that so? If so, then the other nobles will also demand compensation just like I do…”

Though I said that, the other nobles from Franche wouldn’t accept reparations if they felt the Architel family had weakened too much, fearing that I might absorb the remaining territories of Architel.

Instead, they will apply pressure to return the original amount. In that case… even if the Duke manages to extract compensation from them, it will be a long time before that money reaches us.

Then there’s nothing to be done. We have no choice but to ask for territories instead of compensation.

“Let me outline our demands, Your Grace. We request a compensation of 600,000 gold coins, the surrender of Wini, who is impersonating the illegitimate son of Count Helzman, and the northern region of the Architel territory.”